The aerodrome is open. Prepare for battle!

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No experience is necessary to play in this tournament. Learning the game takes less than five minutes. The GM will be available during Heats to coach you through a game, and many of the veteran players are willing to teach new players as well. You will be in the cockpit facing down your first opponent in no time!

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Tournament Format

The Ace of Aces tournament will be held in scheduled Heats and through Recon Patrols. A Recon Patrol means you can find opponents to play at any time during the week before the deadline of returning the flight records. Pilots (players) can register for the tournament with the GM at the Heats. The top six pilots will advance to the Final Circus.

 

Flights

Flight records, provided by the GM during scheduled Heats and available any time at the event kiosk, are to be filled out for each dogfight (the words “dogfight” and “flight” are used interchangeably throughout this page). These flight records may be taken with the pilot to be filled out during Recon Patrols throughout the week. As the GM will not always be available to resolve disputes, good sportsmanship is vital. All flight records must be returned to the event kiosk by 8 pm the night before the Final Circus or to the GM at the last scheduled Heat. Please return the flight records even if you didn’t complete the minimum requirements! You are still eligible for special recognitions even if you don’t. Each dogfight reported on the flight record must include:

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• opponent's name

• opponent's badge number

• damage inflicted and received

• result of dogfight

• points earned

• opponent's signature

 

The main game book being used in this tournament, and the one used in the finals, is the Handy Rotary Series, but any of the following WW1 gamebooks may be used as long as both players agree: Handy Rotary Series, Powerhouse Series, Flying Machines, Handy Rotary Deluxe Edition. Note that regardless of the version being used, damage will be 2 for close range, 1 for medium range, and .5 for long range. Players can still keep track of damage during the game in versions that use 1-2-4, but they must halve the final score on the flight record. So if the final score is 12 to 7, it would be recorded as 6 to 3.5 on the flight record.

 

Points for each flight are awarded as follows:

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• Win (W): Five points if the dogfight ends by you shooting down your opponent and not being shot down yourself. - You win!

• Draw (D3): Three points if the dogfight ends by both you and your opponent being shot down on the same turn and you inflicted more damage than your opponent. - You went down in a blaze of glory! OR If the dogfight ends due to being lost in the clouds and you inflicted more damage than your opponent. - The writing was on the wall and your opponent was forced to flee!

• Draw (D2): Two points if the dogfight ends by both you and your opponent being shot down on the same turn and you both inflicted an equal amount of damage or you received more damage than your opponent. - You put up a good fight!

• Draw (D1): One point if the dogfight ends due to being lost in the clouds and you and your opponent inflicted equal damage or your opponent inflicted more damage than you. - You didn’t win this one, but you lived to fly another day!

• Loss (L): No points if the dogfight ends by you getting shot down but your opponent survives. - You lose!

 

Determining Finalists

To qualify for the Final Circus, first consideration goes to pilots who have at least twelve valid dogfights against eight unique opponents with no more than two against the same opponent.  A dogfight is considered valid if it is against a pilot officially registered for the tournament and doesn’t exceed the two dogfights per opponent limit. No more than thirty dogfights will be counted.

 

Advancement to the Final Circus will be determined by the highest point average of valid dogfights amongst those who have qualified. Ties will be broken by the highest number of flights flown followed by the greatest difference in damage inflicted over damage received. In the unlikely event that there aren’t enough qualifiers that meet the minimum requirements, the remaining flight records will be considered by dividing the point total by the minimum number of dogfights required (12) along with a 25% penalty.

 

The Final Circus

After the results are in, the top six pilots, the Aces, will advance to the Final Circus. Check the event kiosk for a list of the finalists and alternatives. The Final Circus will be a round robin event where each Ace faces one another once for a total of five dogfights. The winner will be determined by who scores the most points in those five dogfights. A modified point system from the Heats and Recon Patrols will be used in the Final Circus. This is a change from previous years where no draws were allowed. Draws are now allowed, but only in the case where both pilots shoot one another down. Wins = 5, draws where you inflict more damage = 3, draws where you inflict equal damage = 2, draws where you receive more damage = 1, and losses = 0. First tiebreaker is head-to-head. If there is a tie between multiple players and head-to-head fails to resolve the tie, then the winner will be decided by best damage inflicted to damage received ratio.

 

Additional Final Circus rules:

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• Dogfights cannot end by being lost in the clouds. Both pilots must return to page 170 if the result is lost in the clouds before one pilot shoots down another.

• No continuous stalling in place. If you are on page 187, 188, 198, 205, 209, or 213, you may not call one of these same six pages that continues a stall pattern.